The deciding specification is the microwave statement and what part of the set it covers, because one listing rates only its lid.
By the Lush Editorial Team·Researched & Compared
I compared the published microwave, freezer and dishwasher statements and their scope, material, bowl counts against published sizes, capacity in quarts and milliliters, weight and carton figures across five nesting bowl sets, using only each listing's own text.
Four BPA free hard plastic bowls at 0.7, 1.4, 2.6 and 4 quarts with clear airtight lids and a ribbed base for grip, stated dishwasher, microwave and freezer safe, published at 1.81 lb with a carton figure of 9 by 9 by 5 inches.
Six polypropylene bowls with six tight sealing TPR lids, published at 0.32, 0.74, 1.37, 3.69 and 5.8 quarts, stated dishwasher, microwave and freezer safe, with one bowl whose size is never published and a carton figure that cannot be right.
Seven plastic bowls with airtight lids published in both units, from 0.71 quarts or 680 ml up to 5.17 quarts or 4900 ml, stated microwave safe with the lid taken off, stacking and nesting for storage, with no weight published.
Three sculpted tinted glass bowls at 1.3, 2.3 and 4.5 quarts with BPA free plastic lids stated freezer, microwave and top rack dishwasher safe, made in the USA, published at 8.89 lb with a carton figure of 11 by 11 by 12 inches.
Three stainless steel nesting bowls at 1.5, 3 and 5 quarts, stated dishwasher safe and stated safe in the refrigerator and the freezer for storing prepped ingredients or chilled dough, published at 3.9 lb with no lids and no microwave claim.
| Model | Brand | Size (Capacity) | Weight | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oggi Set of 4 Prep | Oggi | Set of 4 | 1.81 lb | Best for reheating straight from the fridge |
| Bakken Master 12 Piece Plastic Nesting Bowls with Li... | BAKKENMASTER | 12 Piece | Not listed | Best for a size for every job |
| SCWBOEII 7Pcs Round Mixing Bowl Set Salad Bowl with ... | SCWBOEII | Round | Not listed | Best for capacities stated in two units |
| Pyrex Colors (3-Pack) Sculpted Tinted Glass Mixing B... | Pyrex | 3 Pack, Small/Medium/Large, With Lids | 8.89 lb | Best for going from oven to table |
| Cuisinart Mixing Bowl Set | Cuisinart | 3-Piece Nesting Bowl Set | 3.9 lb | Best for mixing and then chilling |
Four BPA free hard plastic bowls at 0.7, 1.4, 2.6 and 4 quarts with clear airtight lids and a ribbed base for grip, stated dishwasher, microwave and freezer safe, published at 1.81 lb with a carton figure of 9 by 9 by 5 inches.
Six polypropylene bowls with six tight sealing TPR lids, published at 0.32, 0.74, 1.37, 3.69 and 5.8 quarts, stated dishwasher, microwave and freezer safe, with one bowl whose size is never published and a carton figure that cannot be right.
Seven plastic bowls with airtight lids published in both units, from 0.71 quarts or 680 ml up to 5.17 quarts or 4900 ml, stated microwave safe with the lid taken off, stacking and nesting for storage, with no weight published.
Three sculpted tinted glass bowls at 1.3, 2.3 and 4.5 quarts with BPA free plastic lids stated freezer, microwave and top rack dishwasher safe, made in the USA, published at 8.89 lb with a carton figure of 11 by 11 by 12 inches.
Three stainless steel nesting bowls at 1.5, 3 and 5 quarts, stated dishwasher safe and stated safe in the refrigerator and the freezer for storing prepped ingredients or chilled dough, published at 3.9 lb with no lids and no microwave claim.
Oggi and BAKKENMASTER publish microwave, freezer and dishwasher claims covering their plastic bowls. SCWBOEII states microwave safe with the lid taken off. Pyrex publishes its freezer, microwave and top rack dishwasher claim for the plastic lid and says nothing about the glass bowl. Cuisinart is stainless steel with no microwave claim and a refrigerator and freezer statement instead.
“One listing rates the lid for a microwave and not the bowl.”
Lush Food & Drink
Oggi and BAKKENMASTER both state that their plastic bowls are microwave safe, along with the freezer and the dishwasher. SCWBOEII states microwave safe with the lid taken off. Pyrex states that its plastic lid is freezer, microwave and top rack dishwasher safe and makes no statement about the glass bowl. Cuisinart is stainless steel and publishes no microwave claim.
That is how the listing is written. The bullet names the BPA free plastic lid as freezer, microwave and top rack dishwasher safe, and the bowls are described as sculpted tinted glass in 1.3, 2.3 and 4.5 quart sizes with no heating statement of their own. Glass is the material most buyers would reheat in, and this listing does not say so anywhere in its five bullets.
On three of the five. Oggi publishes four sizes for four bowls, Pyrex three for three and Cuisinart three for three. BAKKENMASTER states a 12 piece set with six bowls and publishes five sizes. SCWBOEII states seven bowls and publishes five, adding that the detailed sizes are shown in the picture. Two bowls across this page have no published capacity.
BAKKENMASTER, with published sizes from 0.32 quarts up to 5.8 quarts. SCWBOEII is close behind at 0.71 to 5.17 quarts and is the only listing that repeats its figures in milliliters, from 680 to 4900 ml. Oggi runs 0.7 to 4 quarts, Cuisinart 1.5 to 5 quarts and Pyrex 1.3 to 4.5 quarts.
No listing here says. None of the five publishes the size of its nested stack, so the carton is the only figure available: 9 by 9 by 5 inches, 10.5 inches cubed, 11 by 11 by 12 inches, and one figure of 3 by 3 by 5 inches that cannot describe six bowls holding up to 5.8 quarts.
The microwave step. Cuisinart publishes three stainless steel bowls at 1.5, 3 and 5 quarts, stated dishwasher safe and stated safe in the refrigerator and the freezer for prepped ingredients or chilled dough, and it publishes no lids at all. Food has to leave the bowl before it is reheated, which in a kitchen with one machine is an extra dish.
Specifications come from the manufacturers' own published listings. Lush Food & Drink may earn a commission if you buy through a link on this page, at no extra cost to you. How we research.
When one socket is spoken for and the machine on it is a microwave, the bowl you reheat in stops being a detail. Four of these five publish a microwave statement and they are not the same statement: two cover the set, one covers the set with the lid taken off, and one covers the lid and says nothing about the bowl. The fifth is stainless steel and offers a refrigerator and a freezer instead.
Underneath that, the published capacities run from 0.32 quarts to 5.8 quarts, in quarts on three listings and in both quarts and milliliters on a fourth. Two listings publish more bowls than sizes: one states six bowls and lists five sizes, the other states seven bowls and lists five. Three publish a weight and two publish none.
| Specification | Oggi | BAKKENMASTER | SCWBOEII | Pyrex | Cuisinart |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microwave stated | Yes, the bowls | Yes, the bowls | Yes, with the lid off | Yes, the lid | not published |
| What it does not cover | not published | not published | The lid | The glass bowl | not published |
| Freezer stated | Yes | Yes | not published | Yes, the lid | Yes, with the refrigerator |
| Dishwasher stated | Yes | Yes | not published | Top rack, the lid | Yes |
| Material stated | BPA free hard plastic | Polypropylene, BPA free | Plastic, food safe | Tinted glass, plastic lids | Stainless steel |
| Bowls in the set | Four | Six | Seven | Three | Three |
| Sizes published | 0.7, 1.4, 2.6, 4 qt | 0.32, 0.74, 1.37, 3.69, 5.8 qt | 0.71, 1.26, 1.97, 3.38, 5.17 qt | 1.3, 2.3, 4.5 qt | 1.5, 3, 5 qt |
| Sizes match bowl count | Yes | No, five sizes for six bowls | No, five sizes for seven bowls | Yes | Yes |
| Metric capacity given | not published | not published | 680 to 4900 ml | not published | not published |
| Weight published | 1.81 lb | not published | not published | 8.89 lb | 3.9 lb |
| Package figure | 9 x 9 x 5 in | 3 x 3 x 5 in | not published | 11 x 11 x 12 in | 10.5 x 10.5 x 10.5 in |
| Lid stated | Clear, airtight, leak free | Tight sealing TPR | Airtight, removed to reheat | BPA free plastic | not published |
What the table cannot settle is what Pyrex’s glass is rated for, because the listing puts its freezer, microwave and top rack dishwasher claim on the plastic lid and makes no statement about the bowl. Cuisinart is the clearest case in the other direction: stainless steel, stated safe in a refrigerator and a freezer, with no microwave claim because steel does not belong in one.
Oggi publishes the plainest version: dishwasher, microwave and freezer safe BPA free hard plastic bowls, with clear airtight lids and a ribbed base for grip. It is a set of four at 0.7, 1.4, 2.6 and 4 quarts, in four color combinations, published at 1.81 lb with a carton of 9 by 9 by 5 inches. Four bowls, four sizes, and one claim that covers them.
BAKKENMASTER publishes the same three machines for polypropylene bowls with tight sealing TPR lids, adding that the set is safe at every stage of prep. It is where the bowl count stops matching: the listing states six plastic bowls with six lids and then publishes five sizes, at 0.32, 0.74, 1.37, 3.69 and 5.8 quarts. One of the six bowls has no published size.
SCWBOEII states microwave safe and then qualifies it in the same breath, take off the lid, which is the only conditional microwave claim on this page. It publishes its capacities twice, in quarts and milliliters, from 0.71 quarts or 680 ml up to 5.17 quarts or 4900 ml, and states seven bowls against those five sizes.
Pyrex publishes the narrowest claim of the four and the listing is precise about it: the BPA free plastic lid is freezer, microwave and top rack dishwasher safe. The bowls themselves are described as sculpted tinted glass in 1.3, 2.3 and 4.5 quart sizes, and nothing in the five bullets states what the glass may be heated in. At 8.89 lb it is also the heaviest set here.
Two of these five publish a bowl count their size list does not support. BAKKENMASTER states a 12 piece set of six bowls and six lids and lists five capacities. SCWBOEII states seven bowls with airtight lids and lists five, adding that the detailed sizes are shown in the picture, which is not a specification. In both cases a buyer counting on a specific bowl is counting on an image.
The other three are consistent. Oggi publishes four sizes for four bowls, Pyrex three for three and Cuisinart three for three, at 1.5, 3 and 5 quarts. Across all five listings the published range runs from 0.32 quarts to 5.8 quarts, and only SCWBOEII lets those figures be checked in a second unit, at 680 to 4900 ml.
BAKKENMASTER’s published package figure is 3 by 3 by 5 inches, for a set that contains six nesting bowls and six lids, the largest of them holding 5.8 quarts. That cannot describe the carton, and this page does not use it for anything. The other three carton figures are plausible for what they hold: 9 by 9 by 5 inches for four bowls, 10.5 inches cubed for three steel bowls, and 11 by 11 by 12 inches for three glass ones.
None of the five publishes the size of the nested stack itself, which is the figure that decides the cupboard. Elsewhere in this pool exactly one listing does, giving 7.75 by 9.5 by 6.5 inches for its nested set, and it is a rectangular container range rather than a bowl set. On these five, the carton is the closest thing available and one of the four is wrong.
Cuisinart publishes three stainless steel bowls at 1.5, 3 and 5 quarts, stated dishwasher safe and stated safe for the refrigerator and the freezer so prepped ingredients or chilled dough can be stored in the bowl. It publishes 3.9 lb and a 10.5 inch cubed carton, and it publishes no lids at all, which is the other half of what a storage bowl usually offers.
No microwave claim appears, and none should. What that costs in a kitchen with one socket is the reheating step: the food comes out of the bowl and onto a plate before it goes in the machine. What it buys is a bowl that will not stain, will not hold flavors and takes a whisk or a hand mixer without flexing.
Pyrex is the interesting middle case. Glass is the material most people would reheat in without thinking, and this is the listing that publishes a microwave claim for its lid and not for its bowl. It publishes 1.3, 2.3 and 4.5 quart sizes, a stated perfect lid fit, and manufacture in the USA, and it weighs 8.89 lb for three bowls.
For a kitchen choosing on this axis, the honest reading is that the plastic sets are the ones whose bowls carry the claim. The glass set says its lid is safe, the steel set does not raise the question, and two of the plastic sets cover everything. The third plastic set covers the bowl on the condition that its lid comes off first.
Reheating without thinking about it. Oggi, four BPA free hard plastic bowls at 0.7, 1.4, 2.6 and 4 quarts with clear airtight lids and a ribbed base for grip, stated dishwasher, microwave and freezer safe, published at 1.81 lb in a 9 by 9 by 5 inch carton.
The widest published range. BAKKENMASTER, six polypropylene bowls with six tight sealing TPR lids, published at 0.32, 0.74, 1.37, 3.69 and 5.8 quarts, stated dishwasher, microwave and freezer safe, with one bowl whose size is never given and a carton figure that cannot be right.
Capacities you can check twice. SCWBOEII, seven plastic bowls with airtight lids published in both units, 0.71 quarts or 680 ml up to 5.17 quarts or 4900 ml, stated microwave safe with the lid taken off, stackable and nesting, with no weight published.
Glass on the table. Pyrex, three sculpted tinted glass bowls at 1.3, 2.3 and 4.5 quarts with BPA free plastic lids stated freezer, microwave and top rack dishwasher safe, made in the USA, published at 8.89 lb in an 11 by 11 by 12 inch carton.
Mixing, then chilling. Cuisinart, three stainless steel nesting bowls at 1.5, 3 and 5 quarts, stated dishwasher safe and stated safe in the refrigerator and the freezer, published at 3.9 lb in a 10.5 inch cubed carton, with no lids and no microwave claim.
Every figure above is quoted from the listing that published it. These are the things a kitchen reheating in one machine would want and no listing here answers.
